Theme
by Moonsetta
Summary: For Leo, the clock was no different from the ice cream in the freezer. Once favored, tiny mementos meant nothing now. He couldn't talk about it-and never would. Sequel to Subject.


Theme-Sequel to Subject

Wow, I never thought that I would write this...

I'm not sure what it is about this style of writing, it's nice, just not my normal style.

Oh well...I don't own TMNT.

* * *

><p>Leo blinked, a strange light appearing in his eyes before habit and instinct had it buried again under so much change. His eyes drooped back to their former shape and he didn't breath while he spoke.<p>

"Where am _I_?" he asked in return.

Raph only stared. No nod or assurance of the question was needed at that moment.

Leo closed his eyes and turned to glare at the floor, although his eyes still held the same locked look, "You're asking me a question that has no answer Raphael."

The red banded turtle had no response to that.

They sat in silence, Raph mentally debating and Leo not thinking. The elder's eyes shifted sideways, reading Raphael's face. There wasn't anger, sorrow, happiness or regret to be found in the younger turtle's visage. It was a curiosity of some sort but more than that. A torturer that plagued the farthest side of one's mind, where it wasn't a haunting of your dreams, just like an annoying plastic bag that decided it liked to hang onto your arm, when all you wanted was for it to go away. But, there was no harm in it really. It wasn't life threatening to you nor anyone you knew. An annoyance.

Raphael liked to think that he knew his brother and he did, in a way. He had tried that old trick of mentally switching places, though he couldn't be sure of the outcome that truly would've been manifested from such factions. Out of habit, the younger turtle reached for the sais tucked into his belt, unusually sharp from the traditional style, out of pure habit but then his hands recoiled, reminding himself that such a habit was dangerous in this situation. For the red masked turtle himself, after he had been slumped against the wall, with his head tilted up to the ceiling and his eyes closed…actually, more or less jammed, tight, he tried to contradict his older brother's actions. He was the one that tried to think.

So distracted by thinking, it wasn't until he heard a scrape that he realized that weight had been taken away. He glanced down and found Leo holding one of his sais. He raised a confused eye ridge, but his older brother didn't turn to acknowledge his attentive gaze. They sat in more silence as the elder turtle continued to gaze at the shining blade.

"This blade could have killed me," Leo finally whispered silently, his eyes faltering for two seconds before closing up once again.

Raph but his lip. He had nothing to say to that. Anything he said could go one way or another, towards acceptance or anger. He didn't want that though. But neither emotion could stay forever.

The surprise over took the younger turtle when the elder reached up and slid one of his own swords from its sheath. The sword and sai rested in the blue banded turtle's hands, like they were two uneven eyes competing with him in a staring contest. Consequently, the blue banded turtle blinked before he raised the sword a bit above the sai.

"This blade could have killed me."

The red banded turtle only continued to stare in confusion. Leo re-sheathed his sword and then brought the sai closer, point first before it was almost touching his eye. Dark green hands appeared around the pommel. Then a miracle happened, or what Raphael would remember as a miracle. One of Leo's hands left the sai and grabbed a hold of one of his brother's hands, pulling it from the pommel. Leo's other hand fell and when gold met ice dark brown, the elder smiled. It wasn't the smile of memories, nor of acceptance. It certainly would never be a line of shame, a frown of sorrow or a scowl of anger. Before, there had been no pull on Leo's heart, the pull of emotions. Animal instinct had banished all of those things from his being but now…

There was happiness, that Raph could see as he continued to hold the sai still, if he trembled or it slipped forward, that would be eternal darkness.

The smile, the happiness…it was one of discovered truth. One that a child knew. A sudden touch to his knee made a shock run through Raphael and he dropped his weapon, the silver object landing on Leo's still crossed legs from his meditation, and chiming quietly as it clattered onto the ground.

When Raph glanced back up, the smile was gone, as if the gained knowledge had grew wings and 'flew the coop' of Leo's mind.

"You angry?" Raph asked, although he had no idea why he was asking it.

The elder turtle straitened his back and tilted his head to the right in a childish way before speaking, "No…I'm…." he paused and thought slowly before continuing again, "I guess, I'm happy. I'm just not aware of it yet."

Raphael shrugged, "Guess, I'm not either."

Finally, Leo relaxed and faced his younger brother before taking his hand and slipping the fallen sai into it. Raph only stared and then his eyes widened when, faster than he could comprehend, the elder turtle had unsheathed one of his swords again, and crossed the blades.

For a moment, the younger turtle wondered if this was a new kind of initiation for a fight or a sparring match.

Then the blades, both sai and sword, were dropped onto the floor.

Somewhere they had reached an agreement, though after years that would follow, neither of them could define what they had never said in words.

* * *

><p>Yeah…<p>

Weird.

~Moonsetta


End file.
